Planning and development for Maryland’s Whole Watershed Program is underway, with stormwater management, stream and marsh restoration, tree plantings, invasive species management, and many other projects advancing to help shape the state’s collective effort on targeted watershed restoration. In March … Continued
In December, during its annual meeting at the National Aquarium in Baltimore, the Chesapeake Bay Program’s Executive Council approved the revised Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement. The agreement includes goals that will improve the health of the Chesapeake Bay, increase access … Continued
This fall, the largest female sturgeon in the Atlantic sturgeon gillnetting survey’s history was captured by Maryland DNR biologists. The fish was netted along Marshyhope Creek, a tributary of the Nanticoke River. Nicknamed Chessie, the large female measured just under … Continued
Recent surveys of juvenile striped bass in the Chesapeake Bay watershed found slightly improved numbers of fish for 2025. Conducted by biologists in Maryland and Virginia, the surveys included counts of juvenile striped bass and other species in waters of … Continued
Data collected by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and Old Dominion University (ODU) show an above average volume of hypoxia—waters with less than 2 mg/l of oxygen—in the Chesapeake Bay mainstem of Maryland and Virginia in early and … Continued
The Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is awarding $29 million from the Chesapeake and Atlantic Coastal Bays Trust Fund to 27 ecological restoration projects encompassing 160 sites throughout the state for Fiscal Year 2026. These projects were selected based … Continued
In May, results of the 2025 Chesapeake Bay Blue Crab Winter Dredge Survey were released by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS). The annual cooperative survey estimates the number of blue … Continued
The 2025 Maryland benchmark assessment indicates that oyster populations have grown significantly in Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay waters over the past 20 years. The Maryland Department of Natural Resources and the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science released the summary … Continued
The Maryland Department of Natural Resources is encouraging anglers to do their part to help the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem by catching and removing blue catfish from the state’s waterways. Blue catfish are top predators that consume native species such as … Continued
Four times each year, NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office (NCBO) scientists scour data from Chesapeake Bay Interpretive Buoy System (CBIBS) buoys, satellites, and other sources to draft a summary of conditions in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Findings from the Winter 2024–25 … Continued